George Jones Memorial Baptist Church, Baptist church in Oak Ridge, Tennessee
George Jones Memorial Baptist Church is a rectangular brick building with wood siding, a square bell tower, and a metal roof. The structure sits on Department of Energy property within a preserved landscape.
The building was founded in 1854 as Mount Zion Baptist Church and renamed in 1901 to honor a minister who donated land to the community. After this change, it became a central gathering place until the Wheat community was dissolved in 1942.
The church serves as a gathering place for descendants of the former Wheat community, who return annually to maintain ties to their shared past. Visitors can sense the connection to a community that disappeared more than 80 years ago.
Pedestrians can reach the building via public greenway trails that are open to visitors. Motor vehicles require special authorization since the church sits on restricted property.
This is the only remaining structure from the Wheat community, which vanished in 1942 to make way for the Manhattan Project. It stands as an unexpected survivor of a community entirely erased by the atomic research effort.
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